VANCOUVER - Cancer research in British Columbia has received a major financial boost from Genome Canada, following the organization's awarding of $35 million in new research funding to its provincial partner, Genome BC.

The funding will support six Genomics projects in British Columbia, two of which are based at the BC Cancer Agency. The Agency plans to initiate a state-of-the-art Cancer Genomics Project and establish core Sequencing, Mapping, and Bioinformatics facilities to support the cancer project and most of the other Genome BC projects as well.

The $35 million represents approximately half of what is needed to complete the B.C. projects with the balance expected to come from the province and other sources.

The first BC Cancer Agency project, Cancer Genomics, is being co-led by Drs. Victor Ling, Marco Marra and Connie Eaves. Dr. Ling is vice-president of Research at the BC Cancer Agency and co-director (Cancer Research) of the Agency's Genome Sequence Centre. Dr. Marra, is also co-director (Scientific) of the Genome Sequence Centre, and Dr. Eaves is deputy director of the Terry Fox Laboratory.

Their team will track the way cells begin to transform into malignancies in the early stages of cancer by identifying new gene mutations and by uncovering altered patterns of expression of genes and proteins. The team has set its sights on performing a comprehensive genomic analysis of early cancers typically containing small numbers of cells and identifying mutations and altered genes that distinguish early stage cancers from normal tissues.

The research is focused on lung, breast, prostate, gastro-intestinal, oral, lymphoid and myeloid tumours, and also includes other new approaches focused on purified adult stem cells and model cell lines relevant to cancer research.

"If we are to have a true impact on cancer, which will soon be the principal cause of death of Canadians, we must have more knowledge and that knowledge must be vested in the biology of the disease," said Dr. Simon Sutcliffe, president and CEO of the BC Cancer Agency.

"The Genome Canada funding is a giant leap forward for Genomics research and the health of Canadians. It is also a great vote of confidence in the extraordinary work being carried out by researchers in British Columbia," Dr. Sutcliffe added.

The funding has major implications for cancer research according to Dr. Marra. "It will allow us to further our understanding of genes and the mutations that impact cell growth, division and death-all key elements of the process of cancer-and to develop leading-edge technology that will be used by scientists around the world," he explained.

In addition to the funding for the Cancer Genomics project, Genome Canada also awarded funding to the Genome Sequence Centre to establish and run core DNA Sequencing, Mapping, and Bioinformatics platforms. This project is being co-led by Dr. Marra and Dr. Steven Jones, head of Bioinformatics in the Genome Sequence Centre. Bioinformatics is the marriage of biology and computer science.

The Genome Canada funding is part of an overall $136 million dollar cross-country package that includes support for 22 large-scale genome research projects The projects involve more than 2000 researchers and technicians.

The BC Cancer Agency is home to eight internationally recognized research departments, including the Genome Sequence Centre. Each department is working to discover the causes of cancer, ways to improve treatment and to develop more effective ways of controlling and curing the disease.

The GSC was founded in 1998 and was the first DNA mapping and sequencing program in Canada devoted to cancer research and treatment. It is one of a handful of laboratories contributing to the global undertaking of mapping and sequencing the genomes of a variety of organisms to determine their specific roles in illness and health.

Genome Canada is a not-for-profit corporation established by the Federal Government to support national Genomics research initiatives.

For a full listing of projects to receive funding from Genome Canada visit  www.genomecanada.ca

For more information on research initiatives at the BC Cancer Agency/Research Centre visit our Home Page or the  BC Cancer Foundation.